


Agent Mulder, may I have a word?

by Nightimer



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, Non-Consensual Spanking, Spanking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-07-10 12:10:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19905499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightimer/pseuds/Nightimer
Summary: Mulder is denied permission to pursue a case by Skinner but decides to go behind his back anyways. Skinner catches up with him and explains a few things to his problem agent.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This originally was just going to be a simple spanking fic, that's it. But somehow it turned into a full blown episode! Really enjoying writing this so I hope you enjoy reading it as well. It's also a bit of an exploration between Mulder's relationships with Skinner and Scully. There will be mistakes so try to gloss over them like I have. I will be taking my time with this so please be patient with the next update. I don't won't to rush and post something that isn't as good as it could be. I have a very limited timeframe to write each day and I'm a sloooooooooow typer. Anyways, sit back and enjoy!

Special agent Mulder made his way sulkily through the corridors of the Hoover building towards the stairs that would lead him down to his and Scully's basement office. He bypassed the elevators at the end of the hall, ignoring the inquiring gaze of a couple of agents milling by the double doors and turned left towards the stairwell, pushing it open with a little more force then was strictly necessary. The heavy fire door clicked closed behind him and he was immediately grateful for the quiet solitude of the bare concrete construction. The steps of his dress shoes echoed loudly in the confined space as he stomped his was down, slightly favoring his right leg.

These stairs were hardly ever used. Most people preferred the convenience and speed of the elevators but after his meeting with Assistant Director Skinner, Mulder needed to burn off some of his agitation and the stairs had the added benefit of no witnesses.

"Damn him…," the agent muttered to himself as he pushed the door at the bottom open and descended the last few steps into the basement proper. It was noticeably cooler and darker down in this hallway, reflecting Mulder's current mood perfectly. His long fingers reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out his keys, finding the correct one and angrily stabbing it into the keyhole. With a savage twist he unlocked the handle and shoved the door open, not caring that it smacked into the filing cabinet behind it. Mulder shrugged out of his suit jacket and threw it carelessly onto a pile of papers stacked in a corner, knocking some esoteric item to the floor but too preoccupied to care. The young agent paced a small circle around his cramped office, running an agitated hand through his dark hair, the other hand propped against his hip.

"Damn that man…," Mulder said again in exasperation, slightly more loudly this time in the relative security of his office. He huffed in annoyance and slipped around his desk, yanking the chair out from under it and flopping down into it. His hazel green eyes landed on the x-file sitting open on his desk and he could feel his blood pressure climb again as he recalled the meeting he had just had with his boss over this exact file.

******************************************************************************************************

"Is this all you have to go on?" AD Skinner asked as he scrutinized the 302 before him, not even bothering to make eye contact with the younger agent sitting before him. Mulder paused, sensing that this might not be the easy sign off he originally thought it would be. He shifted in his chair and rubbed the palms of his hands on his knees.

"At the moment sir yes, but I believe it's enough to warrant an investigation," he stated calmly as he waited for the larger man to finish reading the paperwork before him. Skinner took one last look before casually tossing the unsigned form back across his desk towards his most troublesome agent.

"Well I don't," he stated firmly as he leaned back in his chair and focused his full attention on the younger man. His reply was so abrupt that Mulder had to take a moment to process a response.

"Sir, I respectfully disagree," He began as his quick mind started building his defense. Skinner interrupted with a snort and the younger agent suspected it wasn't surprise over Mulder disagreeing, but more likely about the 'respectfully' part. He bristled and sat up straighter, readying himself to do verbal battle, once again defending his work.

Skinner had been overseeing the X-files department and it's two agents for little over two years now and in that short time, Mulder and he had butted heads many times. Mulder was the kind of man that didn't take authority over him or the curbing of his actions well. He was passionate and driven and tended to bulldoze over anything that stood in his way and his quest for the truth. Unfortunately that was usually Skinner, the very picture of an immovable object. The Assistant Director was ex-military and respect for authority and discipline were deeply ingrained in him. Everything that Agent Mulder seemed to lack.

Skinner remembered the first time he had ever called Mulder into his office, shortly after being assigned the X-files. Mulder had been stalking a man he claimed was a liver eating, extreme contortionist that was well over 100 years old. Skinner, unsure as to how best to handle the younger agent, had first tried the concerned friend approach, suggesting Mulder should take some time off to reduce the stress he must be under that was causing him to act so inappropriately. Mulder's casual, unconcerned response was clearly an attempt at humoring him and subtly displayed his disregard for Skinner's polite management style. Skinner could see the younger agent had absolutely no fear of him. He had pulled away then and stood up, towering over the seated agent and had walked around his desk. Coming to the decision that he needed to nip this in the bud right now and establish his authority over his agent immediately if he was ever going to have a chance at controlling the younger man, Skinner dropped the buddy-buddy routine and in a firm no nonsense tone of voice, _forbade_ him from going anywhere near the suspect. His approach was direct and to the point and it was the method he decided to adopt from then on with this brilliant but out of control agent.

Mulder had gotten just a hint of what he could expect from his new boss that day with the Cigarette man looming behind him, always in his shadow, but it wasn't till the X-files had been closed and Skinner had put Mulder on wire tap surveillance duty, an assignment generally known as a punishment, that the younger man finally realized what he had gotten into with this ex military assistant director.

It was when Mulder had been called once more into Skinner's office to answer for his desertion of his assignment and actions down in Puerto Rico, that Skinner had been enlightened to the line that the Cigarette man had crossed by illegally wiring tapping Mulder's phone. It was at that moment that Skinner had crossed a line himself, stepping over it to stand with Mulder, leaving the black lunged bastard on the other side. Skinner had chosen to side with Mulder, throwing the Smoking man out of his office.

Both men were aware of the shift that had just occurred and Skinner could tell he had earned the respect Mulder had been withholding since he had started working under him. When the younger agent had quietly asked if he should make the arrests both knew that he had enough evidence for, Skinner calmly ordered him back to the surveillance with the comment that they needed more to go on. The message was plain as day. Mulder was still being punished. Skinner may have chosen to stand with Mulder but he was not going to let the younger agent get away with anything. There would be consequences for his actions. Skinner would stand with him, but he would also stand in front of him when Mulder needed it. This was one of those times.

All those memories flashed through Skinner's mind as he waited for Mulder to make a valid point as to why it was necessary to send two agents to a remote forest in the middle of the pacific northwest. He listened as Mulder made his case about a possible serial killer stalking campers and hikers deep in the forests of Oregon and how the killings were painted with just a shade of the unknown. Strange sounds, lights in the night sky, and sightings of a possible hitherto unknown creature.

Skinner sighed and took off his glasses, rubbing at his eyes as Mulder trailed off, waiting for the older man's reply. It was times like these that Skinner wished Scully was here. The other half of the partnership was more rationally inclined and had a unique way of cutting through all of Agent Mulder's eloquently worded bullshit to get right to the point. She also had a calming affect on both men that had diffused many an argument between the two of them. Too bad she was attending an in town medical conference at the moment.

Both men looked at each other, each silently trying to figure out what was going on in the other's head.

Skinner leaned sideways in his chair and rested his left elbow on the armrest, propping his chin in the palm of his hand. He could still see the bruise on Mulder's right temple just under his hairline and the slight limp as the dark haired agent had entered his office hadn't gone unnoticed either. It had only been four days since Mulder had been released from the hospital after his latest escapade and Skinner was worried that the younger man's lack of self preservation was becoming more and more of an issue that needed to nipped in the bud immediately before Mulder found himself in a situation that no one could save him from. Although he didn't like to admit it, the younger agent had grown on him and he was genuinely fond of the trouble magnet, even if he was making Skinner lose whatever hair he had left at an accelerated rate.

Decision made, Skinner sat straight in his chair and picked up a pen and began making marks on a report he had previously set aside, his body language dismissive.

"Permission denied Agent Mulder. I do not want you pursuing this any further," he said as he made another mark. He didn't have to look up to know that the younger agent was glaring at him in affronted disbelief.

"But sir….," Mulder tried to interject but Skinner cut him off.

"I said no, Agent Mulder. I don't see the need to repeat myself," he stated firmly as he looked up, pinning his subordinate with an uncompromising stare.

"May I ask why?" Mulder countered, a hint of insubordination creeping into his tone. Skinner inwardly steeled himself. 'Here we go," he thought silently to himself.

"Agent Mulder, you were only just released from the hospital a few days ago and have yet to fully recover…," He saw Mulder open his mouth to interrupt but skinner beat him to it.

"…I have spoken to your doctor's so don't give me any of that 'I'm fine' bullshit." He watched as Mulder snapped his mouth shut at the stern tone and looked down at the floor. It was a habit of his that Skinner had picked up early on whenever the younger man was being reprimanded. He tended to break eye contact and look down, momentarily taking a mental step back from the situation to regroup and come up with a better strategy to prove his point. Sometimes it was an act of submission, succeeding the point to the other person. And sometimes….it was just an act.

"I was declared fit for duty," Mulder argued, looking back up and meeting the other's eyes.

"Limited duty," Skinner countered. Mulder shook his head at his boss's continued unreasonableness.

"Okay fine, Limited duty but duty non the less," he argued, gesturing agitatedly with his right hand. "I don’t see what the issue is here…," he began but was cut short by the sound of Skinner slamming the pen he had been holding down onto the desktop, causing a startlingly loud noise.

"The _issue_ Agent is that I have given you a direct order to drop this case and your continuous insubordination is getting on my last nerve," Skinner retorted, the volume of his voice raising even as he tried to control it. Mulder quickly looked down again and Skinner instinctively knew that this time wasn't an act. Mulder was backing down but only just.

"Sir, I believe this case requires further investigation," Mulder replied while he struggled with whether or not to make eye contact. Skinner had this distinctly 'spooky' way of peering right through him that made him nervous and always seemed to put him on the back foot.

"I've already said all I'm going to say about this. This case can be handled by the local authorities," Skinner said more calmly as he returned his attention back to the budget paperwork on his desk, body language and tone dismissing the younger man. "I suggest you find something else to focus your energy on Agent Mulder, before I find something for you." He heard Mulder huff in irritation and stand up, the not so veiled threat of wire tap surveillance enough of a deterrent for the younger man to bite his tongue and back down for now.

Mulder didn't say anything as he left the office, pointedly not closing the door behind him. Skinner kept his eyes on his report till he was sure the other man had gone. He stopped writing and cast a quick glance towards his door before allowing a frustrated sigh to escape. He set his pen down and leaned back in his leather office chair, running a weary hand over his bald head. Why did he ever agree to take on the X-files?

He spotted the unsigned 302 Mulder had left sitting on the other side of his desk. Casting one more quick glance at the open door, he reached over and snagged the file. He re-read the details of the case and snorted at the absurdity of it. He tossed it to the side of his desk on top of an ever growing stack of papers. There was absolutely no way he was going to authorize a 302 to look for…

****************************************************************************************************************

"...Bigfoot?" Scully asked slowly as she looked up from the x-file she had found Mulder mulling over when she had entered their shared office and cast a disbelieving stare at her taller partner. "You want to go hunting for bigfoot?"

"It isn't actually clear what is doing the killings, only that several people had been found with injuries that could only have been committed by a person, or persons with incredible strength, and that a large unidentified, upright walking creature with an approximate hominid physiology with hair covering it's entire body, has been sighted in the area recently, usually only a day before a body was found," Mulder rattled off as he looked at her from behind his desk, fiddling with a pencil.

"So…Bigfoot," she stated as she looked at the file again. She just knew that it had been a bad omen when the head speaker of her conference had come down with a bad case of food poisoning, causing the abrupt cancellation of the rest of the conference. She should have just gone home and enjoyed the next three days off but had decided to stop by the Hoover building to check up on her partner. It had only been four days since he had been released from the hospital following their last case. Scully suppressed a shudder, recalling the…

"Sasquatch," Mulder interrupted as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet onto his desk, crossing his ankles.

"What?" Scully questioned, brought back to the present by Mulder's teasing tone.

"The correct term is Sasquatch," he explained as he smiled at her. "The Native Americans have stories spanning thousands of years referring to a large hairy wild man that roams the woods, foraging at night and only communicating through grunts and whistles. Some tribes even believe the sasquatch has the ability to turn invisible, which could account as to why no one has ever been able to get more than a glimpse of the creature before it 'vanishes' into the forest, barring a few instances of course."

"Did you know some tribes have been known to guard visiting women when a sasquatch has been spotted on their land, believing the creature to see the human female as a potential mate?" Scully retorted back, just as deadpan.

"I did," Mulder responded, pleased. While for the most part Scully didn't believe in any of the things they investigated, she respected the work and his own belief enough to make the effort. Scully ducked her head slightly, fighting her own smile that threatened to show whenever she happened to surprise Mulder. He always looked at her so fondly in those moments…

Scully cleared her throat and handed the file back to her partner who took it and flipped through a couple pages.

"I've got to admit Mulder, I'm surprised Skinner signed off on this one," she commented as she reached down and picked up her purse, looking through it for her phone. She was going to have to call her Mother to watch Queequeg again if they were gong to be headed out of town. She didn't see Mulder's slight hesitation.

"Well, regardless of the validity of a potential cryptic creature perpetrating these atrocities, Skinner realizes that people are being murdered and that someone needs to stop it." It was a truth hidden in a lie, and Mulder felt like a heel for doing that to her. Skinner _had_ agreed that it should be looked into, just not by the F.B.I. He didn't look at her as he stood up and walked over to his discarded suit jacket, slipping it on.

"Good enough for me," Scully replied as she stood up, phone in hand ready to dial up her Mother. "So when do we leave?"

*****************************************************************************************************************

Mulder locked the rental car before hurrying around it to follow Scully up the steps of the police station and out of the cold drizzle that seemed a permanent fixture of the northwestern United States. The two agents shook out their coats as the desk sergeant on duty eyed them curiously.

"Can I help you," she inquired as she took in their professional suits and demeanor. The tall lanky man stepped forward and reached into his dark over coat, pulling out a small leather wallet that he flipped open to reveal a Federal badge and ID.

"Yes, I'm Agent Mulder with the Federal Bureau of investigation, this is my partner Agent Scully," he said, introducing the smaller red head beside him. "We're looking for Chief Fuller? We spoke over the phone, he should be expecting us.

So these were the two F.B.I agents Carl had been talking about. The desk sergeant nodded and directed them to a cramped but organized office towards the back of the station. The agents found Chief of police Carl Fuller sitting behind a mound of paper work doing his best to whittle down the stack before him.

"Chief Fuller?" Mulder inquired as they entered the wooden paneled office. The other man looked up and took the two agents in at a glance.

"Agent Mulder isn't it?" the older man said with a smile as he stood up and stepped around the desk to shake hands with the two agents. Mulder was surprised by the man's height. He must have been a good three inches taller than himself and he found it a bit disconcerting to have to look up to meet his gaze. This must be how Scully felt.

"Yes sir, and this is my partner Agent Scully."

"Hello agents and welcome," the chief said as he took Scully's hand in greeting. While his handshake had been firm with Mulder, the larger man was much more gentle with the other agent.

"Thank you sir," Scully said as he released her hand and gestured them both into the mismatched set of chairs in front of his desk. As both agents took their seats, Chief Fuller made his way back around his desk and sat down, moving the stack of papers he had valiantly been trying to get through to the side.

"I must say, while I appreciate the assistance, I'm a little surprised that the F.B.I. would be interested in this," He stated as he ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair.

"Normally we would leave it to the local law enforcement such as yourself chief, if it weren't for the more unusual instances coinciding with the deaths," Mulder explained. Fuller looked at him, puzzled.

"You mean…the sightings?" he asked almost as if he was sure he must be mistaken. When Mulder nodded his head in the affirmative, Fuller shook his own in disbelief. "Agent Mulder, those are just rumors, stories fabricated by intoxicated locals with too much free time and not enough good sense. Surely your not suggesting these people had been killed by bigfoot are you?"

Mulder opened his mouth to respond but Scully quickly intervened.

"Sir, we are not suggesting anything, but neither are we disregarding any possible evidence, sensible or not, that may help discover the identity of the killer." Fuller looked between the two agents before nodding his agreement, impressed.

"I'm sorry agents, you're right. I guess I've been strung just a tad bit tight since these killings had started. I really do appreciate the help and I'll do whatever I can to help you in your investigation."

Mulder was impressed himself. Usually when they made contact with the local law enforcement, they were closeminded and territorial. Chief Fuller was not only welcoming, but despite his reservations over Mulder's interest in the more outlandish rumors surrounding these cases, he had quickly put his trust in the two agents.

"Thank you Chief, you can start by letting Agent Scully look at one of the victims," Mulder responded.

*****************************************************************************************************************

Skinner closed his office door behind him after thanking his secretary Kim for bringing him lunch. It wasn't part of her job description but whenever she went out for herself, she would sometimes bring something back for him. He smiled as he sat the roast beef sandwich down on his desk. Why couldn't all the people he worked with be as thoughtful and reliable as his secretary.

He sat down in his chair and unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite, surprised at the savory flavor and taking a mental note to ask Kim where she had got it. As he ate, his eyes wandered over his desk, eyeing all the different reports that needed his approval, signature, or corrections. He loved his job, he really did but sometimes all the paperwork was just a bit too much.

His eyes landed on one report sticking out at an angle from his otherwise straight pile. He recognized it as Mulder's 302 he had brought to him just the other day. Figures. Even Mulder's reports couldn't fall in line.

Skinner placed the last bite of his sandwich down and pulled at the corner of the report, yanking it swiftly and cleanly out from the stack it hand been sandwiched in with such skill that the reports on top hardly moved, like a magician pulling a table cloth cleanly out from under a full dinner setting. He opened it up and went over the details again. He had to admit it was an intriguing case, even if he didn't agree with Mulder's opinions as to the possible identities of the killers. If Mulder had approached him with this case with a little more plausibility and hadn't just had a stay in the hospital, Skinner may had begrudgingly signed off on the 302. Maybe he could make a compromise. Perhaps he could set up a long distance communication between the local force and the F.B.I and Mulder could assist the investigation from right here in D.C.

Deciding he should bring the suggestion to the agent in question, Skinner buzzed the intercom on his desk.

"Kim, could you get me Agent Mulder please," he asked as he picked up the last of his lunch and placed it in his mouth, chewing slowly to savor every last bit of it. Less than a minute later Kim's voice came back over the intercom speaker.

 _"I'm sorry sir but Agent Mulder doesn't appear to be in the building, he never signed in this morning."_ Skinner swallowed hard and the bite of sandwich went down his throat with some difficulty. Skinner coughed a few times but didn't choke thankfully.

Okay, no need to get suspicious. Mulder had just been in the hospital. Maybe he was having a bit of a relapse and had taken a sick day.

"Did he call?" He questioned, already anticipating what her answer would be but secretly hoping against it anyways.

 _"It doesn't appear so sir, HR has not indicated a request for sick leave."_ Alright, maybe he just forgot. He had suffered a slight concussion recently after all.

"Try Agent Scully please," he requested. Maybe she would know where her partner was. Skinner picked up a pencil and leaned back in his chair, idly twirling the pencil between his fingers, the knot of unease growing in his stomach.

 _"I'm sorry sir but Agent Scully didn't sign in this morning either,"_ the voice said sympathetically. The pencil in Skinner's hand snapped in two, the broken piece falling to the desk to land on the open x-file.

"I'm going to kill him…," the AD muttered between gritted teeth. He knew without a shadow of a doubt where his walkabout agent was and apparently, he had dragged Scully right behind him.

"I'm _really_ going to kill him…,"

 _"Sir?_ " The voice of his secretary startled him out of his furious haze. _"Would you like me to try his cell phone?"_

"No, thank you Kim, that won't be necessary," he said far more calmly than he actually felt. Whatever he had to say to Agent Mulder was going to be said to his face. "Kim, I need you to book me a flight…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter for you. The 'case' part of this story has really taken over! I want it to feel like a real episode so hopefully that's actually coming through. Don't fear, Skinner is on his way as we speak!Also, forgive any mistakes you may find, writing and wine do not mix. Or do they...?

"So what do you think?" Mulder asked as he leaned over Scully's shoulder.

She stepped away from the mutilated body on the slab before her, gently forcing her larger partner to back up as she peeled the blue surgical gloves from her slender hands with a snap.

"Based on the injuries and evidence of predatory predation marks on the body, I would say that this person at least, was a victim of some sort of animal attack," she explained as she walked over to the small sink against the wall and washed her hands.

"Predation by what?" Mulder asked as he placed his hands on his hips, pushing his jacket back as he gazed down at the torn body of one recently deceased, Mr. Stanton.

Scully dried her hands with a paper towel and tossed the wadded ball into a wastebasket before turning back towards her partner. An autopsy had already been preformed so Scully had simply read the report and had only donned the surgical gloves to clear up a few odd entries on the report that she needed to visually clarify herself.

"I'm not exactly sure Mulder," she confessed as she stood beside him, gazing down at the body, the antiseptic white lights of the coroner's examination room painting the corpse in a paler complexion then normal. "The left arm had been pulled from the socket with such force that it had nearly taken the shoulder blade with it and I found evidence of compression damage done to the tissue by what appears to be an animal with at least some molar like teeth, although much larger than you would expect from the indigenous wildlife."

"Would you say…ape like?" Mulder questioned, already sure of what her answer would be.

Scully rested one hand on the hip of her cream skirted suit and looked at her partner with just a hint of exasperation.

"Yes Mulder, I would say ape like but it's far more likely that this was done by a larger than average bear with excessively worn down back molars," she explained as she gestured towards the body laying on the slab. "Which also would indicate an older individual and could explain the large size of the bite marks since older animals tend to be at their maximum growth."

Mulder nodded his head thoughtfully as he absorbed her rational explanation of the facts.

"But you _do_ agree the bite marks look like they could have been from an animal with a predominantly primate physiology?" he clarified and Scully began to wonder why she even bothered since he had already made up his mind. She decided to try anyways.

"Mulder, there are no species of primate anywhere in the world, let alone the forests of north America, that have teeth large enough to match those marks that were found on the body," she remarked patiently.

Mulder leaned back against a sparse metal desk situated across from the mortuary slap and leaned his weight on his hands behind him as he regarded his partner.

"Scully have you ever heard of _Gigantopithecus_?" He didn't wait for a response. "It was a primate that supposedly went extinct as recently as 100,000 years ago that stood up to ten feet tall and weighed up to 1,100lbs."

Scully crossed her arms. She could just _hear'_ the quotation marks around the word supposedly in Mulder's voice.

"Are you suggesting an individual from an extinct species of ape has somehow survived and escaped human detection, living in the forests of the north American continent, and is responsible for the attacks?"

"I'm simply offering a plausible theory for the unidentifiable marks found on the victims body," he said innocently as he shrugged his shoulders at her.

"Mulder, you and I have very different definitions of the word 'plausible'," she replied as she arched an eyebrow at him.

Mulder smiled, taking the jibe in the good nature that it was intended and pushed away from the table, walking towards the stainless steel door of the coroner's examination room, holding it open.

"Come on Scully, the Chief has arranged for us to interview some of the witnesses."

******************************************************************************************************************************************

"If I hear one more, "... _and the forest went quiet_ ," cliché, I'm going to take my gun out and shoot someone," Mulder deadpanned as he ran a weary hand over his face.

Scully spared him a sympathetic look before placing a Styrofoam cup of coffee down on the table before him, taking the chair across from him in the now empty interview room. He took it gratefully.

For three hours straight he and Scully had sat through multiple stories from witnesses who had been in the area when a person had been attacked, all claiming to have seen, or heard something in the woods that defied explanation. This would have been helpful, except each story differed so wildly as to be almost useless. One person claimed they saw a bipedal creature with blackish hair, while another claimed it was completely white and ran on all fours. Another person swore they saw a flash of bright light, followed immediately by whoops and whistles deep in the forest, while yet another person claimed a small tree was thrown at them by a creature that was there one moment, then gone the next as if it had vanished into thin air.

"Well from my experience, sudden silence usually indicates a predator in the area so it does help to lend some credence to their stories," she offered as she took a sip of her own drink.

"Yes but none of the stories match, casting more darkness on this case rather than illumination. I'm starting to think these people didn't see as much as they claimed to have and have simply filled in the blanks with the popular bigfoot mythology perpetuated today by Hollywood and fiction writers," Mulder complained as he leaned back in his chair. "They were all a little too detailed you know?" He paused for a moment, mentally recalling and scrutinizing each interview. "All except for one though," he said thoughtfully.

"Whose?" Scully asked, warming her hands on the small cup she held.

"Frank Morrison," Mulder supplied, leaning forward to flip through a small notebook he had used to jot down the main points of each eyewitness report. "He didn't claim to have seen a creature, only that he had heard something large moving through the woods, had smelled a foul odor, and had rocks thrown at him."

"And that makes his story more credible because?" Scully prompted.

"Because he doesn't appear to have any preconceived notion as to what was in the woods with him and he mentioned things in his recollection that none of the others did, the smell, the rock throwing. All details that are consistent with more reliable sasquatch encounters, details known mostly to the small community of researchers interested in this phenomenon and the rare few that have actually encountered this creature." Mulder explained as he flipped the notebook closed and pushed it to the side.

"So because his description was the most vague, it's the most believable?"

"It's the lack of embellishment that makes this more credible. Morrison is reporting just the facts, nothing else," Mulder pointed out before the interview room door was pushed open and Chief Fuller entered, carrying his own cup of precious warm liquid in this cold area of the northwest, as well as a folded map under his left arm.

"The jury is still out on the 'believable' part if you ask me," he said as he walked over to the two seated agents and sat his coffee down on the table top.

"Do you have any new information?" Mulder asked hopefully, pushing his own cup to the side as the larger police officer placed the map he'd been carrying on the table and began to unfold it.

"Unfortunately no, but I thought I would help give you a visual of the attack sites as well as the approximate locations of these supposed sightings that you've just been listening to," the large man explained as he finished flattening the map across the table, moving his cup to one corner to help anchor it.

"All the bodies had been found here, in this section of the state park," Fuller explained as he pointed to several small crudely hand drawn circles in red.

Mulder leaned over the map and took in the details, mentally mapping the red circles in his head. The circles, although some distance apart on the map, appeared to be clustered loosely around one area of the park. He pointed a long finger down onto the map.

"What's located in this part of the park Chief?" he questioned, briefly making eye contact with the older man.

"There? That's all old growth forest," the Chief supplied as he leaned over his map, encircling a large area with his finger, indicating the extent of the forest in question. "Huge old trees but not much else. Most people head to the falls down by the east," Fuller explained. "Rent canoes and the like. Which is why it's so damn peculiar that the attacks are clustered in that area."

"So your saying this is the oldest part of the forest?" Mulder asked as he studied the map.

"Yes, but why would that be of any relevance?" Fuller asked as he watched the two agents briefly share a look, curious as to what they were saying to each other without having to actually vocalize it.

"A previous case we had worked on was in a similar geographical location also with unexplained attacks," Mulder supplied as he pushed his chair back and stood up, reaching behind him for the suit jacket he had laid on the back of his chair.

Fuller straightened up to his full height and took a step towards the dark haired agent as he put on his coat, noticing Agent Scully take her partner's cue and also stand.

"You think this is the same thing?" he asked, silently hoping these two odd agents held the answers he needed to shed some light on this frustrating case.

"No, this is something different," Mulder said as he glanced back down at the map.

"But you have an idea?" Fuller prompted, placing his large hands on his hips, staring Mulder in the eyes and forcing him to maintain eye contact, not challenging, but not backing down either.

"None that haven't already crossed your mind chief," Scully interjected quickly before Mulder could respond. She walked around the table to stand beside her partner and Fuller got the impression it was a subconscious response on her part, an obvious act of support for her partner, but possibly an act of restraint also, ready to keep the other agent from saying something he shouldn't. He was starting to get the feeling she had to play both rolls quite often for her to be able to do it so naturally.

"If you have the time Cheif, I'd like to see the area of the attacks in person," Mulder requested.

"I'm afraid it's a bit too late in the day for that," Fuller began, momentarily backing down from whatever secrets the other two were deciding to keep to themselves for the time being. He trusted them, but he didn't like being kept in the dark. "It'll be hard enough to navigate that area without it being dark on top of it."

"It's only four o'clock…," Mulder observed as he glanced at his wrist watch.

"You'd be surprised how fast the dark creeps up on you out there Agent Mulder," Fuller began as he started to fold up the map. "There aren't any roads up there, only an old park ranger trail that you 'might' be able to get a jeep through if you're determined enough, but even if you did, you'd have at least an hour's hike to the closest attack sight." He finished folding the map and tucked it under one arm. "I'll take you out first thing in the morning," he added as he nodded good day and turned to exit.

"Just a moment Chief," Mulder called out as he walked over to the older man. "If it's alright with you I'd like to study that map a bit longer." He held out a hand.

"Mulder…?" Scully questioned, a hint of suspicious warning creeping into her tone.

"Just so I can get a clearer picture of the crime scenes. Hopefully connect some dots while I'm at it until we can actually get out there," Mulder elaborated as he addressed the other man.

Fuller had the impression that the explanation, while addressed to him, was really meant for the agent's petite partner. Curious dynamic these two had…

"Well I don't see what harm can come from it," he sighed as he handed over the marked up map, watching as Mulder took it and placed the neatly folded paper into the inner pocket of his suit jacket. "I'll meet you two around eight tomorrow morning in front of the station, if that's convenient for you?"

"Thank you Chief Fuller, that would be fine," Scully said as she smiled briefly at him before fixing her gaze on her taller partner.

Fuller could tell she wanted to have a few words with the other agent, preferably in private, and decided to make a hasty exit. He hadn't been married for fifteen years without picking up at least 'some' of the social cues given by the female of the species.

"Agents," he said simply as he walked through the doorway, leaving the two F.B.I. agents to hash out whatever it was they needed to hash out.

"Mulder, I'm going to assume you meant what you said about studying the map and not that you're planning on going out into the forest at night to look for this thing," Scully said sternly as she crossed her arms and stared hard at him.

"It's a well known fact that the best time to search for a bigfoot is during nightfall…," he began but Scully cut him off.

"Mulder, you just got out of the hospital. I don't think you're up to hiking around a forest in the middle of the day, let alone in the middle of the night with no trails or person to guide you," she explained in all seriousness, hoping she was making her concern for his well being quite clear.

"Relax Scully, I'm not that stupid, no matter what Skinner might say," Mulder mumbled testily, somewhat put out by her lack of faith in his abilities and her slightly rebuking tone of voice.

"I wasn't implying that you were," she replied back just as testily, a little put out herself now at his petulant response to her concern. Why was it that whenever she expressed worry over him he turned into a defensive jerk, tossing her concern right back in her face.

Mulder, sensing he had somehow pissed her off, decided to make peace before they actually got into an argument. Despite his inherit love for debate, he never liked arguing with her.

"Look, I appreciate your concern but I'm fine. While I do want to visit the area in question, I fully grasp the logic of waiting until daylight to do so," he said as he moved to the wooden door of the interview room and held it open for her, hoping she would take the cue and drop this line of conversation so they could move on to more important issues.

Scully arched an eyebrow at him and his boyish smile, but walked toward the door he held, feeling him place a hand lightly on her lower back to help gently guide her through as she passed. Even though he could be a real ass sometimes, it was little gestures like this that showed he could be a true gentleman as well.

"Let's go get settled in our motel, then we can go get something to eat, my treat," he added as they made their way through the cramped hallways of the old but clean police station.

"Alright Mulder but promise me you won't do anything that will make me regret not sedating you and tossing you in the nearest hospital," Scully quipped as she pulled on the heavy glass door of the station and held it open for him this time.

"Scouts honor," Mulder answered as he held up three fingers, thumb and pinky crossed, as he passed her and out into the cool afternoon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow clap for me for actually getting another chapter written and posted. I was going for scary for this chapter but don't know if I pulled it off. Anyways, hope you like it. Now to start on the next chapter. Let me know what you think!

"Damn it," Mulder muttered to himself as he fumbled with the map, trying to fold it open to the section he needed one handedly as he tried to shine his flashlight on it. Quickly giving up, he pinned his heavy duty flashlight between his shoulder and chin, freeing up his other hand to wrestle the map into submission. He finally succeeded and centered his light on the red circles, mentally placing his location and the distance to the closest crime scene.

It didn't seem too far…

Mulder looked up from the map and directed his light towards the trees, taking note of how it only penetrated a couple dozen feet before being completely consumed by the darkness. The sounds of insects was deafening and the trees creaked and moaned in the cool wind. The overall vibe was definitely earie and Mulder momentarily debated whether or not he should continue with his plan. 

"I hope she isn't right..," he said quietly to himself as he scanned the forest, looking for a place were the trees thinned and would make hiking easier. His ankle still twinged when he walked and the prospect of stumbling around fallen trees and hidden dips in the dark was a bit worrisome. Not to mention what Scully would say if she found out. 

After having dinner at a quaint local restaurant, the two agents had returned to their lodge themed motel and parted ways for the evening, each retiring to their respective rooms. Mulder had waited about an hour, studying the map just like he had told the chief and Scully he would do, before changing out of his suit into jeans and a warm sweater, switching out his polished dress shoes for sturdy hiking boots, and topping off his outfit with a blue waterproof jacket. 

He had holstered his gun in the back waistband of his jeans, leaving his badge and ID on the wooden night stand beside the bed, and had quietly snuck out of his room and to the car. 

Thirty minutes later found him standing at the edge of the ranger's jeep trail Chief Fuller had told them about. It really was a miracle the SUV they had rented at the airport had even made it this far up the rugged trail.

"Well, I'm already here," he told himself as he patted himself down to make sure he had his gun, his compass, and his cell phone. As a precaution, he took out a small battery powered lantern from the back hatch storage compartment and turned it on, placing it on the roof of the SUV to act as a beacon to help guide him back to the vehicle. Satisfied that he was ready, Mulder chose a path that seemed the least overgrown and carefully pushed his way through into the darkness, leaving the SUV behind.

His plan was simple. Hike to the closest accessible crime scene and see if he could hear anything like what the witnesses had described or maybe even catch a glimpse of the creature he thought was responsible for the attacks. While he could have waited until morning and gone out with Scully and the Chief, Mulder knew his best chance would be at nightfall. While he was being flippant at the time, he hadn't been lying when he had told Scully the best time to search for bigfoot was at night. And there was little doubt in his mind that it indeed was a Sasquatch responsible for the attacks.

This particular area was also where Morrison had had his sighting.

For several minutes Mulder carefully picked his way over the uneven ground, keeping a close eye on his compass to ensure he was making a relatively straight line towards the first attack site. The leaves rustled and the incessant buzzing of insects created a white noise affect that helped to ease some of the tension he felt about being out in wilderness alone. Despite what his partner might say, Mulder wasn't stupid. He was aware that what he was doing was potentially dangerous, but the need to discover the truth of what was really out there, tangible proof that he could actually grab a hold onto, outweighed any inherent caution he had.

It had been close to an hour since he had first entered the woods and he knew he must be very close to the site of the attack. When another fifteen minutes had passed and he had yet to come across the yellow caution tape Chief Fuller mentioned had been used to cordon off the area, Mulder began to suspect he had made a wrong turn somewhere.

He stopped and pulled out his compass again, checking his heading. The compass appeared to still read true, as it wasn't spinning rapidly in circles nor was it flipping between the two poles. Perhaps he had simply missed the site in the darkness. Deciding to backtrack a bit to see if he really had passed it, Mulder turned around.

It was at this moment that the inevitable happened. The toe of Mulder's right boot caught on the edge of something he hadn't seen in the darkness and he was unable to stop his forward momentum. He fell hard into a tree trunk, scraping the side of his face on the rough bark, before sliding off to fall face down on the ground. The force was enough to momentarily knock the wind out of him and send something flying off into the underbrush. He lay there for a minute, groaning as he tried to catch his breath.

Finally his diaphragm kicked back in and he was able to breath, pushing himself up slowly to his hands and knees.

"Damn it," he wheezed as he leaned forward and reached out for the flashlight he had dropped, sitting back on his haunches as he twisted around behind him to shine his light on what had tripped him up.

It was a tree stump. But it wasn't a normal stump you'd expect to find left behind by a rotted tree that had fallen over. This one had been cut.

Mulder panned his light around and picked out more and more cut tree stumps. It was quickly becoming obvious that someone had been out here harvesting timber, more than likely illegally as this was a protected forest, land belonging to the federal government. Logging was prohibited here. It appeared as if one out of every three trees had been cut down, leaving enough standing so it wouldn't be obvious from the air that some had been cut down.

Mulder slowly stood and brushed the dried leaves absentmindedly from his jacket and knees as his light illuminated the desecration. His quick mind immediately began to make connections between the destruction of the forest and the recent attacks, noting the trees had been cut down not that long ago, the sap still drying on the one currently caught in his beam. It was too much of a coincidence to not be connected somehow.

As he contemplated his burgeoning theory, the more primitive part of his brain suddenly kicked in and Mulder became aware that the ever present background cacophony of insects which had surrounded him this whole time, had stopped. The woods had gone silent…

Mulder's eyes widened as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He got the unpleasant feeling that he was being watched. 

"Oh _shit_ …," he muttered as he fumbled the back of his jacket up and pulled out his gun, clicking the safety off but holding it down to his side, not quite sure if there was really any danger or if his mind was over reacting just like the witnesses he had complained to Scully about.

He raised his light and scanned the forest before him, straining his ears to pick out the slightest sound that would prove something was here with him. The silence was absolutely deafening.

Common sense and self preservation finally made their tardy appearance and Mulder quickly turned back the way he had come and began making his way back to where he suspected he left the SUV. He had come out here to find something but when faced with the actual possibility of coming face to face with a monster capable of ripping a man's arm out his socket in the middle of a darkened forest, Mulder couldn't help kicking himself for his stupid impulsiveness.

He made his way as quickly and quietly as he could, all senses on alert. The silence followed him. 

Every minute that passed, heightened his anxiety as he tried to focus on not getting lost. He had taken a pretty direct path west so as long as he kept the needle of his compass pointing to the east, he should be able to find his way back easily. His flashlight made a constant rotation between his footing, the compass, and the surrounding woods as he skidded down dips and climbed over fallen logs. His ankle was beginning to complain loudly now and Mulder prayed it wouldn't give out on him.

A loud knock off in the distance stopped him in is tracks. It had sounded like wood on wood, like someone had taken a baseball bat and had slammed it against a tree.

Mulder whirled around in a circle, gun and flashlight raised as he tried to pinpoint where the knock had originated. The silence had followed him for so long at this point that to finally hear something almost came as a relief, or it would have if he hadn't been overcome with instant trepidation that whatever had been in the woods watching him had finally caught up 

"Hello?" Mulder reluctantly called out, eyes straining to see through the trees. He waited but there was no response. "I'm a federal Agent and I'm armed…" he called out again, assuming that if it was a person out there they would make their presence known in order to not be accidentally shot.

The sound of something being flung through the trees startled him and he swung his light in that direction just in time to see a small object bounce and then roll across the ground, just a few feet to his left. He stared at it in surprise for a moment before the significance of the object dawned on him and he turned around and began hiking again with a little more alacrity than before.

Someone, or _something_ had thrown a rock at him. A pretty good size one at that.

He quickly pushed his way through the forest, no longer willing to look for whatever this thing was, keeping the beam of his light fixed firmly in the direction he needed to go. He must be close to the car by now…

Another rock exploded into the underbrush to his right and Mulder lost the fight against the animalistic panic that had been trying to take hold since the forest had gone quiet.

He ran. He crashed through the foliage, snapping branches as he barreled through. If something was chasing him, he couldn't hear it over the noise he was making.

He slid down a small slope before leaping up and over a fallen log. The drop was more than he expected and his ankle gave out on impact, causing him to tumble to his hands and knees, fingers buried deep in the dead leaves, flashlight lost to the underbrush. He quickly pushed himself back to his feet and started running as fast as his injury would allow. He wasn't feeling any pain in it but later, after the adrenaline wore off he would be in a world of discomfort. 

Not able to see more than a few feet in front of him, Mulder was no longer sure if he was running in the right direction. He pushed branches aside blindly, desperately searching for anything that would indicate he was heading towards the car.

A tiny white light peeked through the trees off to his left and Mulder bolted for it, thanking his past self profusely for having the foresight to leave the lantern on.

He crashed through the last remaining trees and out onto the rutted dirt trail, the SUV parked along the side of the road where he had left it. He ran to the driver's side door and yanked it open, throwing himself into the cab and slamming the door behind him. He smashed the automatic lock button on the side door panel before frantically searching his pockets for the keys.

"Come on, _come on_!" he yelled to himself as he dug his hand in his coat pocket. Where were the damn keys!? This kind of bullshit only happened in bad horror movies…!

His fingers touched smooth metal and he yanked the keys out of his jean's pocket, slamming the key home in the ignition. 

" _Christ_!" Mulder shouted as a rock bounced off the hood of the SUV. He wasted no time and slammed the car into reverse, the tail lights bathing the edge of the forest in a sinister red glow as he twisted the car around. The lantern tumbled off the roof and rolled down the windshield, disappearing over the edge of the hood with the force of his maneuvers. He threw the gear into drive and floored the gas pedal, the rear end of the vehicle fishtailing for a moment before the tires finally found traction in a spray of dirt and rocks.

Mulder accelerated down the dirt trail and didn't let up on the gas until his tires bounced onto asphalt and he could see the light's from the small town glowing not to far off in the distance.

Realizing the need to calm down before he got himself in an accident, the rattled agent pulled the SUV into the parking lot of a well lit gas station and turned the engine off, griping the wheel with both hands as he forced his heart rate to slow along with his breathing.

"I wonder what Scully will say about this," he muttered to himself before letting out a bark of laughter, the relief of finally being safe and the knowledge he had absolutely no intention of _ever_ telling her, helped him to finally release the last of his tension. He ran a hand over his face, his fingertips ghosting over the scrape near his hairline he had gotten when he had tripped, knowing he would have to come up with some mundane explanation as to how he got it when he saw her again.

Shaking his head ruefully, Mulder reached into his coat pocket for his phone. Not finding it, he checked the seat beside him. When that also failed to produce the missing device, he leaned across the front seat to feel around the floor board of the passenger foot well, hoping it had fallen somewhere down there.

"Oh no…," he mumbled with a hint of foreboding as he twisted around in his seat to lean over the back and search the backseats.

"Oh no…," he repeated in horrified disbelief, coming to the realization that he must have lost his phone out in the forest, most likely when he had tripped the first time. This first revelation brought on a more pressing one. He had left the map out there as well.

"Oh _no_ …," he muttered miserably. How was he going to explain all this? He was supposed to return that map to chief Fuller. The cell phone was government property and would need to be accounted for.

Mulder slammed his hand down hard on the steering wheel in frustrated anger, causing the older woman who had pulled into the spot beside him to look at him with the righteous disapproval that only the elderly could pull off. He fumed at himself for a few minutes, mentally reproaching himself for his stupidity before sighing in defeat and turning the car back on. What was done, is done.

"I'll think of something tomorrow," he told himself as he reversed out and pointed the SUV in the direction of the Motel He and Scully were staying at.


	4. Chapter 4

Scully knocked on Mulder's motel door promptly at 7:30am. They had thirty minutes before they had to meet up with Chief Fuller at the police station and she was hoping they could grab a quick bite to eat before they drove out to the state park. Free continental breakfasts were fine and all but she would kill for a pepper and onion cheese omelet, maybe a couple of slices of bacon…

Her knock received no response. 

"Mulder?" she called out before knocking again, a knot of worry beginning to form in her stomach. Mulder tended to have that affect on her more often then she cared to admit. She leaned her left ear against the cheap wooden door and listened for any indication that Mulder was up and mobile. When the door opened suddenly with out warning, Scully had to step back quickly to avoid falling into her partner. She looked him over, noting his disheveled appearance and the darkening circles under his eyes.

"What happened to you?" she inquired as Mulder stepped back to allow her to enter his room. She did so, noting that he was still dressed in pajama pants and a white tank top, his hair mussed as if he had just woken up, which was odd since he, like her, was a morning person and was usually up around seven at the latest.

"I didn't sleep well last night," Mulder mumbled as he closed the motel door and stumbled into the bathroom, leaving the door slightly open as he ran the tap.

Scully took a moment to wonder when they had reached that level of familiarity that they could perform their morning bathroom routines in each other's presence, before focusing on the more pertinent issue.

"What happened to your head?" She called to him as she looked over his room, ever the investigator, trying to piece together the clues to help her understand why her partner had still been in bed when he would have normally been up and why he was sporting a scrape on the side of his head that hadn't been there the day before when she had bid him goodnight.

The running water turned off and he reemerged, walking over to his garment bag to retrieve a clean suit.

"I tripped over a shoe while trying to find the bathroom last night," he said nonchalantly as he shook the wrinkles out of his dress slacks. "Bumped my head against the door frame."

Scully glanced at his hiking boots that had been tossed carelessly to the side near the bathroom door. They must have been the culprit. She eyed him with concern.

"You must have aggravated your ankle when you tripped, I noticed you're favoring it more today then you did yesterday."

Mulder thought he had done a better job at hiding that particular fact but assumed there was only so much ibuprofen could do for something like that. He looked down at his right foot, stretching it in a small circle to help relieve some of the stiffness.

"Guess I'll remember to leave a night light on next time," he grinned as he laid his now wrinkle free charcoal suit on the bed

Scully rolled her eyes and pointedly looked at her wrist watch.

"We're going to be late, Chief Fuller will be waiting," she reminded him as he snagged his shaving kit from his open suitcase sitting on the overstuffed chair in the corner.

"He's going to have to wait a little longer," Mulder began as he passed her and into the bathroom once more. "There's been a change of plans," he called out through the open door.

"There has?" Scully inquired, eyebrow raising in surprise.

"I want you to call Fuller, I'd like to speak with Frank Morrison again before we head out to the site of the attack," his voice said, once more closing the door behind him but not completely so he could still speak to her.

"Why is it so important to re-interview Morrison?" Scully asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, once more feeling like Mulder was keeping something from her. Sometimes he did it for dramatic effect, other times he had done something he shouldn't have and the less she knew about it the better. She hoped it wasn't the latter.

Mulder peeked his head out from between the door. 

"Let's just say I think he left out a few things the first time around," he said cryptically before pulling back and closing the door completely, cutting off any opportunity for Scully to question him further. 

************************************************************************************************************************************

"What is this about?" Frank Morrison asked impatiently as he glanced at his watch for the third time. "I've got work to do."

"Just a few follow up questions Mr. Morrison," Mulder explained calmly as he opened a file on the table top where he sat across from the other man in the station's interview room.

"What else can I tell you? I already told you everything I know and that wasn't much," Morrison complained as he tapped an impatient finger on the scuffed table top.

"I'm sorry to inconvenience you Mr. Morrison but new evidence has come to our attention that I was hoping you might be able to help shed some light on for us." Mulder said as he looked up from the folder he had been reading.

Morrison glanced down at the folder then back up at the dark haired agent.

"What new evidence?" he questioned with a hint of uncertainty that both agents picked up on.

Scully was curious herself as she stood behind and off to the side, arms crossed as she waited for Mulder to get to the point and reveal why they had to postpone their trip out to the crime scene and bring Morrison back in for further questioning.

"In your statement you said that you were out in the state park on a camping trip," Mulder began as he flipped over a page, scanning the words printed on next page.

"Yes, that's right," the older man said, unsure as to why that was relevant.

Mulder looked up at him.

"The park ranger you reported your experience to didn't mention seeing any camping gear," he stated as he looked Morrison in the eye.

Morrison sat silent for a moment as he processed what the agent had said. He shrugged his shoulders as he waived a dismissive hand. 

"I had it packed away in my truck," he began, "Just because that Ranger didn't see it didn't mean I didn't have it."

"But in your statement you said you were chased out of the woods," Mulder pointed out and he could see the other man take a mental step back.

"I was!" Morrison said a little more defensively than he intended as he sat back in his chair and glared at Mulder.

"So something was out in the woods with you, something that scared you so bad that you felt you needed to report it to the authorities, something that literally _chased_ you out, and you want me to believe that you stopped to take the time to tear down and pack up your campsite?"

Scully looked from Mulder to Morrison, wondering where Mulder was going with this and curious as to Morrison's response to this line of questioning. What was she missing here?

Morrison's eyes widened as he stared at Mulder, his mouth opening and closing as he processed this turn in questioning. 

"What is this?" Morrison exclaimed, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table, palms down.

Mulder leaned forward himself as he squared off with the belligerent man.

"I think that you were out in the woods for a different reason," he said cryptically, watching for any reaction from the other man. He noticed a marked hesitation before the other man shook his head.

"What are you talking about?"

"You work for the Sterling milling company don't you Mr. Morrison?" Mulder asked and the change in the man before him was immediate. He withdrew and crossed his arms in a defensive gesture and glared at the young agent. 

"What exactly are you accusing me of here?" he blurted out angrily and Scully took a step closer to give Mulder backup if needed.

Mulder shut the folder and pushed it to the side as he squared off with the other man. 

"We found evidence of selective logging in the state park, the very same park where you had your encounter and where several attacks had occurred," Mulder began.

Scully looked from Mulder to Morrison before finally settling her gaze back on her partner. How and where had he gotten that information? Had he spoken with another witness after they had parted for the night? Had he been tipped off by someone working for the logging company?

Then she remembered earlier this morning, finding a groggy Mulder with a new injury and an aggravated older one, his hiking boots. The pieces of this particular puzzle were starting to fall into place for her and she was _not_ liking the picture they were forming.

"Mulder…," She spoke up, trying to pull her partner's attention away from Morrison. She needed a few questions answered herself before she allowed this to continue. They were supposed to be working as a team on this and right now, Mulder was keeping things from her. He was going 'Lone Ranger' again and maybe it was time she pulled back on the reins a bit.

"So…so what are you implying, that…that I was out there cutting down trees? If that park ranger was as observant as you seem to think he is then I'm sure he would have noticed me dragging a couple of thirty foot logs behind me," Morrison spat sarcastically.

"Mulder…," Scully tried again, stepping up to his right side. He ignored her, his focus solely on the other man.

"I don't think you did any actual cutting but I _do_ think you are more of a scout. Finding areas dense enough that a few trees wouldn't be missed, marking them so your accomplices would know which ones to take," Mulder responded firmly as he stared Morrison down. If he was right about this, and he was pretty sure he was, then the man sitting before him was partially, if indirectly, responsible for the attacks and the resulting deaths. Something had agitated the dormant creatures out in the woods and Mulder was positive it was due to the alteration of their habitat, their home. 

"You're crazy! How dare you accuse me of such a thing!" Morrison yelled, slamming his hand down on the table top to emphasize his statement. The tension in the room was positively palpable.

"Mulder, we _need_ to talk," Scully said firmly as she laid a hand on his shoulder, giving him a slight squeeze, physically reinforcing her verbal request.

Mulder shrugged her hand off. He couldn't stop now, he was close to cracking Morrison and even closer to finding a reason behind the attacks and hopefully a way to end them.

"Not now Scully," he said, not taking his eyes off the angry man sat across from him.

"I want my Lawyer," Morrison demanded as he sat back and crossed his arms.

"Yes _now_ Mulder," Scully snapped, frustrated with her partners behavior.

"I'm right in the middle of…," he began testily but was cut short as the door to the interview room swung open with a creak. Everyone in the room turned to see who had entered.

"I'm afraid whatever that is will have to wait," Assistant Director Skinner said as his large form filled all the available space between the door frame, subconsciously blocking the only exit.

Mulder stared at the form of his imposing boss and was immediately overcome with that feeling of dread that surges through your body when you know you've been caught red handed and you are in big, big trouble. The kind of dread you feel from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. He was suddenly glad that he was sitting because he was sure he would have gone week in the knees. 

"Sir? What are you doing here?" Scully asked confused. Why would Skinner be all the way out here so far from Washington and why was Mulder sitting so still and tense?

Skinner glanced briefly at her, acknowledging her presence before zeroing on her partner who still sat as if frozen to the spot, twisted sideways in his seat, one hand on the table top, the other on the back of his chair. Brown eyes locked onto hazel green and Skinner was pleased to see the look of apprehensive uncertainty settle over the younger man's features. Mulder was worried. _Good_.

"I'm sure that will be become apparent very shortly Agent Scully," Skinner addressed her while keeping his gaze locked on Mulder. "But first I think an explanation needs to be provided," he added ominously as Mulder tried to swallow with his suddenly dry throat. Skinner stepped back out into the hallway while holding the door open with his right arm, indicating he wanted his two agents to exit the room and follow him.

"Agent Mulder, may I have a word?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, I'm actually worried for Mulder... Short chapter but it's more of a continuation of the last one so...

Mulder couldn't tear his eyes away from the image of his boss, holding the door open for him like an executioner waiting to lead him to the gallows. Mulder valiantly suppressed the shudder that wanted to overtake him and slowly stood up, the chair scraping noisily across the linoleum floor as he pushed it back away from the table.

"Hey! What about my lawyer?" Morrison complained as Skinner made room for Scully to pass him and enter the hallway.

Mulder didn't bother looking at the man as he waived a dismissive hand in his direction.

"We'll get back to you," he commented as he slowly made his way to the door and his waiting boss. He didn't dare look at Skinner as he made to pass him. Skinner didn't give him nearly enough room to pass as he had done for Scully and Mulder knew he had done that on purpose, getting into Mulder's personal space, forcing the other man to retreat to the far side of the doorway. Mulder could feel Skinner's eyes bore into him as he finally squeezed past the larger man and out into the relative safety of the hallway where Scully stood.

Both agents waited as Skinner closed the door on the irritated Morrison and turned to face them, his expression stern as he regarded the two of them for a moment.

Mulder couldn't take the tension anymore and tried to break the ice. 

"Have a nice flight?" he quipped and immediately regretted it as Skinner glared at him from behind his rounded glasses.

"Agent Mulder, we are about to have a very long, very _loud_ conversation so I suggest you shut your mouth until we are in a more private place," Skinner growled and Mulder snapped his jaw shut, closing his eyes briefly in resignation at the pronouncement. He could see Scully's eyes widen at Skinner's tone, just now coming to the realization that they were in trouble…again.

"Sir…?" she questioned but Skinner held up a hand for silence.

"In a moment Scully. Is there a place in this station we can talk…," he glanced at Mulder who quickly looked down at the floor. "…privately?"

"Uh, I think there's another interview room at the end of the hall," she explained as she nervously smoothed down her skirt. "I believe the Chief said it was seldom used and it's located in the back of the building, away from any offices," she added, glancing up at her partner to gauge his reaction to all this. He stood close to her almost as if he needed the moral support, hands on his hips as he stared at the floor, scuffing it with the heel of his dress shoe. He was definitely nervous and Scully marveled at how Skinner could so easily transform her arrogant, confident partner, into a subdued nervous ball of apprehension. Mulder was afraid of no man, but if there ever was one that came close, that was Walter Skinner.

"That will do, lead the way Agent Scully," he commanded her gently but firmly. It wasn't her he was angry at after all and it wasn't her fault that her disobedient partner had dragged her into this either so he tried to moderate his tone, at least while addressing her.

"Yes sir," she replied as she turned and began walking towards the back of the station, her heels clicking softly on the linoleum flooring.

He watched as Mulder made brief eye contact with him and Skinner made sure the dark haired man felt the full force of his displeasure before the younger agent dropped his gaze and turned to follow his partner down the hall.

Mulder followed Scully as slowly as he dared, wanting to prolong this discussion with Skinner for as long as possible but the older man had different ideas. Mulder could feel Skinner walking uncomfortably close behind him, practically touching and forcing the younger man to pick up his pace. 

"Get a move on agent," Skinner hissed in his ear and Mulder felt more like a horse being rustled into a corral, and less like a special agent with the F.B.I. The image did nothing to improve his mood and he resented the way Skinner was taking control like they were a couple of kids that needed adult supervision. Without actually thinking about it, Mulder slowed his pace, unable to stop himself from resisting against Skinner's authority.

Skinner didn't skip a beat as he fisted a hand in the back of his agent's suit collar and pushed the younger man forward. Mulder stumbled as his ankle gave way but Skinner's grip on his collar pulled him up short.

"I suggest you stop pissing me off Agent Mulder, you're in enough trouble as it is," he hissed quietly as he forced Mulder to walk at his pace, giving the younger man a slight shove when he needed it. 

If Scully had any indication of what was going on behind her, she ignored it as she resolutely made her way to the empty interview room. She pushed the door open and flipped on the light switch, the florescent light illuminating a scene similar to the one they had just left. A lone table sat in the middle of the room with two mismatched chairs positioned on either side of it with a couple more stacked up against the far wall. Several cardboard boxes sat piled against the other wall, giving the indication that this room was used more for storage then anything else.

She turned just in time to see Skinner give Mulder a slight shove into the room and was surprised at how tactile Skinner was being with her partner. She watched as he closed the door behind him and began taking off his over coat, throwing it over a stack of case files. Mulder sidled up next to her and she was positive now he was seeking reassurance from her and it warmed her in a way she was unwilling to contemplate at the moment. They both stood silently as Skinner turned to them and placed his hands on his hips, staring hard at the taller of the two.

"Agent Mulder, you already know why I'm here," he began as he took a step closer, causing the younger man to unconsciously shift his weight in response to the older man's movements. "But why don't you fill your _partner_ in…" he trailed off with a wave of his hand in Scully's direction, making it clear that he was going to make Mulder explain to her how he had lied to her and gone against a direct order.

"Sir, I don't….," Mulder tried to say but Skinner cut him off.

"Tell her Agent, that's an order," Skinner barked and Mulder shut his mouth and closed his eyes as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Mulder?" he heard Scully ask quietly beside him and he opened his eyes to look down at her.

"What is he talking about?" she asked as she folded her arms over her chest, looking at him with that concerned look that always made him feel so guilty. He immediately resented it. Why should he feel guilty? They were here to help, to investigate and put and end to the vicious killings, in essence, doing their job. He huffed in agitation.

"I presented this case to Skinner and he said it wasn't worth the F.B.I.'s time or resources," he said contemptuously, meeting Skinner's gaze and embracing his growing anger, allowing it to push aside his good sense and healthy fear of the older man. He heard Scully sigh beside him and he looked back down at her.

"Damn it Mulder," she whispered more to herself then the two men in the room with her. Once again Mulder had decided to throw regulations to the wind and take matters into his own hands, crossing the line that Skinner was obviously here to forcibly haul him back over.

"What?" Mulder said, his tone aggravated as he looked between the two if them. Why didn't they understand?

"I said that the local authorities could handle this Agent Mulder, because what you presented to me did not meet the Bureau's criteria for sending out field agents. If that wasn't a good enough reason, the only department I had that was capable of pursuing this investigation was currently under medical restriction and was therefore unavailable," Skinner ground out between his teeth, a habit of his when he was trying to control his anger. 

"No, you denied my 302 because of the paranormal overtones of this case, something you have never accepted as part of the X-files!" Mulder snapped at his superior, his anger overtaking his common sense.

"Mulder," Scully tried to calm him down but her partner was having none of it.

"No, don't try to rationalize this Scully," He began and tried to block out the slightly stunned look on her face at his dismissively spoken words. "He's been standing in our way since the beginning," he added, gesturing wildly towards the other man with his left hand.

Skinner took a step forward which brought Mulder's attention squarely back on him where it belonged. The younger man shut his mouth and turned to face him, watching his every move closely. 

"Don't…" Skinner said sternly as he leveled a finger at the younger agent. "Don't you try and twist this conversation around to be about something it's not because I assure you Agent Mulder, we are right here, right now, for the very specific reason that you disobeyed me and no amount of slick psychological bullshit is going to distract me from making sure you see exactly where you _screwed_ up!" he had all but shouted the last part, somehow keeping his anger in check with a will he didn't even know he possessed.

Mulder bristled at Skinner's rebuking tone

"So this is about your hurt ego then?" Mulder threw at him condescendingly as he placed his hands on his hips, pushing his jacket behind him and stared the slightly taller man down. He was going too far, intellectually he knew he was, but he was so far down this rabbit hole of pent up anger and resentment over the constant questioning over his actions on the X-Files that he needed to vent and Skinner had pushed just the right button at just the wrong time.

"Mulder…" Scully said warningly, seeing the look on Skinner's face darken. She was really starting to fear for Mulder's safety at this point.

"Excuse me?" Skinner said surprisingly calmly, tilting his head slightly to the side to help hear better since there was _no_ way Mulder had just said what he thought he said.

"You heard me," Mulder continued, standing up taller, full of misguided bravado as he took the offensive in their argument. " I refused to get my knee's dirty bowing down to your egotistical power trip and now you want to drag me back to D.C just to make yourself feel better, that you still have control over every aspect of your perfect, normal little world, even though that cigarette smoking bastard has you kissing his ass…"

Skinner crossed the distance between them in two steps, startling not only Mulder but Scully as well, forcing her to step to the side quickly to avoid getting caught between the two men. Skinner grabbed onto the front of Mulder's jacket, twisting the fabric along with his tie into a tight ball in his hand and yanked the younger man close so they were exactly eye to eye.

Mulder sucked in a surprised gulp of air at the suddenness of Skinner's actions and automatically raised his hands to grip onto Skinner's right arm and wrist that was currently fisted in his clothing. His eyes widened in fear of the unknown as he stared into steely brown eyes. Skinner's glasses flashed as they caught the light from the overhead fluorescents.

"Agent Mulder, let me just show you how hurt my ego can get…"


	6. Chapter 6

Skinner saw red. There was simply no better way to describe how he currently felt at the moment. Mulder had always had this special way of getting under his skin, of ruffling his feathers like no other had and Skinner knew most of the time it was unintentional on the younger man's part. It was just a part of his personality, just one of the quirks that made him such a unique individual. But sometimes it was deliberate, usually when he wasn't getting his way on some issue or he was being called on the carpet for something he had done, just like a petulant child and right now, _that_ particular quirk had pushed Skinner over the edge 

Not really thinking about it and letting his instincts take over, Skinner dragged his resisting agent over to the table where he leaned down and pulled the grey plastic chair out from under it, yanking it with more force then needed a few feet away from it and further into the room. He could feel Mulder overcoming his shock at the sudden manhandling and was trying to twist out of his hold, his long fingers pulling at Skinner's arm, trying to loosen his grip enough to where he could pull away.

"Sir!" he heard Scully say in alarm, no doubt worried he was about to murder her partner right here in the police station.

"Don't worry Scully, I'm not going to kill him," he ground out as he turned and sat down in the chair, perching himself on the edge of it. His grip on the younger man forced Mulder to bend at the waist as Skinner had sat down but now the older man pulled harder, causing Mulder to bend over further, and the dark haired man released his grip on Skinner's wrist in order to brace his hands on Skinner's left thigh.

"What are you doing?!" Mulder grunted out as he resisted Skinner's pull.

Skinner could feel Mulder pushing against him and reached over with his left hand and added it to the grip he had on the front of the agent's jacket, pulling down swiftly causing Mulder to finally over balance and land face down over his lap. 

Mulder felt his breath momentarily leave him as his hands slid off Skinner's leg, causing him to fall forward and across his boss's lap. His stomach made contact with the hard thighs and Mulder grunted at the impact. Before he even had a chance to process what was happening, he felt Skinner grab him around the waist with one hand while the other wrapped around the back of his belt and pulled him further across his lap. He quickly had to brace his hands down on the floor in front of him to keep from smacking face first into it. He felt his feet momentarily loose traction with the floor and he flailed for moment before his body settled into position and the toes of his dress shoes made contact once again.

Scully stood frozen as she watched their boss yank Mulder down over his lap. What the hell was going on? She was worried that Skinner had finally snapped and maybe she should intervene. Obviously the two men's tempers had gotten the best of them and she needed to be the voice of reason, to calm them down before either did something they would both regret.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Scully restated Mulder's question as she watched Skinner pull her partner further over his lap, causing Mulder to struggle to keep his feet on the floor.

"Something I should have done two years ago Agent Scully," Skinner explained as he flipped up the back of Mulder's suit jacket, exposing the tight seat of his trousers and white tucked in dress shirt, pushing the coat material up the young man's back and out of the way before wrapping a beefy arm around Mulder's waist. He pulled him closer, pinning the younger man between his lap and stomach.

Before Mulder could finish processing the fact that his boss had just pinned him over his lap and to even begin contemplating for _what_ possible reason, he felt the older man shift above him and a second later he felt something smack him dead center on his backside. The absolute shock of it caused him snap his head up and suck in a gasp, before the accompanying sting made him cry out.

"OW! What the fuck!?" he called out, twisting over Skinner's lap and against the arm pinning him down.

_What_ … _the_ … _fuck_!? 

Skinner's palm came down a second time, smacking Mulder on his right buttock before swiftly repeating the gesture on his left cheek.

By now it was obvious to everyone in the room what Skinner was doing.

Mulder cursed again as the other man slapped his rear end several times in a row, causing Mulder's toes to curl in his shoes.

"Ow! Goddammit stop!" he yelled over his shoulder as he tried to push himself up, supporting himself with his left hand flat on the floor and bringing his right hand up to grip Skinner's left knee. Skinner increased the pressure on his back by leaning further over him and landed the hardest swat yet that had enough force to jolt Mulder's hand loose and he had to slap it back down on the floor to help keep his balance.

"Son of a bitch," Mulder hissed out as he rode out the initial sting of that particular swat.

"Watch your mouth," Skinner said sternly as he punctuated his words with several swift swats to the lower curve of Mulder's rear, causing the younger man to twitch over his knees.

"Have you lost your mind!?" Mulder called over his shoulder as he continued to struggle. "You can't do this!" he added when Skinner ignored him and continued to slam his open hand down hard on his squirming backside.

"I think you'll find that I can Agent Mulder," Skinner answered with another hearty smack. "You finally pushed me too far. I have never in my career met an Agent that was just _asking_ for this more than you." he growled as he took his pent up frustration out on his troublesome subordinate. "You are disrespectful, ungrateful, disobedient, and throw a tantrum whenever things don't go your way. I can't think of a more appropriate response to your actions, wouldn't you agree?" 

"Fuck you," Mulder spat back as he tried get a leg under him to gain some sort of leverage to push himself off the other man's lap.

Skinner lowered his aim and landed three very smart smacks to the back of Mulder's right thigh. The younger man immediately gasped in shock at this new and surprisingly intense pain and jerked his leg in response, losing any progress he had made at getting up and turned his head back to the front, squeezing his eyes shut as his nerve endings screamed at him.

"I said watch…your… _mouth_ ," Skinner enunciated from between his gritted teeth, slapping Mulder's other thigh three times in succession to even out the pain. "Curse at me again and I'll keep smacking you here, you got that?" Skinner asked as he swatted each thigh again, causing Mulder's breath to hitch.

Not trusting himself to respond, Mulder kept his head down, clenching and unclenching his hands on the floor.

Scully was sure Skinner was pulling some sort of ill conceived joke. This had to be just a quick, humiliating display to show her partner how childish he had acted and then Skinner would let him up and they would have a proper disciplinary talking too, one that conformed to F.B.I regulations and Skinner would drag them back to D.C and put Mulder on wire tap duty for a couple of weeks. That had to be it… 

She waited for a few seconds, standing there as she watched her boss spank her partner over his knee, almost forgotten by the two men struggling against each other as she searched for any sign that Skinner was going to stop and let Mulder up. Surely he had made his point clear by now?

When Skinner showed no indication of stopping, she stepped forward and raised up both hands in a calming gesture and addressed her boss.

"Sir, I think you should stop and think about this," she said surprisingly calmly over the sound of flesh hitting cloth. She saw him pause for a moment, his hand raised as he looked up at her, almost as if he was surprised to see her there. 

Mulder twisted his head to face her and she could see the look of distress on his face as he held himself up. 

"Scully, for God's sake stop him! He's gone crazy!" he called out to her as Skinner smacked him again for his outburst. "Shit!" he hissed at the pain, slapping his right hand several times on the floor to help alleviate some of his frustration over this whole debacle.

"Oh believe me, I have Agent Scully," Skinner began as he lowered his stinging right hand and rested it against Mulder's warmed behind, pressing lightly to produce an uncomfortable pressure. He felt the younger man tense and try to pull away from the touch but there was no where for him to go and he was forced to simply lay there, breathing heavily after his exertions.

"Almost from day one I might add," he tacked on as Scully looked at him with concern.

"Sir, if someone were to walk in right now you could be charged with assault," she tried to reason with him.

"Then perhaps you should lock the door," he said simply as he stared up at her.

Scully stared back with wide eyes. The look on Skinner's face was showing every indication of continuing with this unorthodox disciplinary tactic and she was stunned at this revelation. She had seen many strange and weird things in her time on the X-files but right now this seemed to be taking the top slot as the realization set in that Skinner was actually going to spank Mulder, right here, right now.

Skinner could see the stunned and uncertain look cross Scully's face as she contemplated what she should do. He sighed as he looked down at the agent he had pinned over his lap. He could feel Mulder's heavy breathing, could feel his heartbeat against his left leg. 

"Agent Scully I understand your concern for your partner as well as for myself. But I am doing this for his own good," he felt Mulder prepare himself to say something and Skinner raised his right hand up and held it at the ready, daring the younger man to say something.

Mulder felt Skinner's movements and immediately snapped his mouth shut, turning to angrily stare down at the spot of linoleum flooring between his braced hands. 

Satisfied Mulder had gotten the message, Skinner replaced his hand on the agent's backside, once more adding a constant pressure to remind Mulder that he was still being punished. The younger man hissed and shifted against the touch but thankfully remained quiet.

"I know you care for him and despite the current circumstances, I do to. I'm fully aware that I am putting my job on the line but for some ungodly reason, I think he's worth it. You are welcome to stay since I believe you have earned the right, but I understand if you wish to leave. All I ask is that you don't interfere." He gave her a moment to come to a decision.

When Scully finally turned after a moments hesitation and made her way to the door, Skinner held back a sigh. He had hoped she would stay since he had truly meant that she had earned the right to be here and he had also hoped the humiliation of getting spanked in front of her would have only added to the lesson he was currently trying to teach Mulder.

He heard the door lock snap home in it's casing and looked up to see Scully walk back towards the center of the room. He watched silently as she pulled the opposing chair away from the table and dragged it closer to the wall before sitting down in it, crossing both arms and legs as she made herself comfortable. 

"Scully?" Mulder said questioningly, his voice filled with confusion.

She refused to look at him, instead focusing her gaze on the Assistant Director.

"I won't interfere Sir," she said simply as she steeled herself for whatever was going to come next. She didn't know how this was going to affect her relationship with Mulder but that was something they could work out after this was all said and done. She hoped her partner would see her decision to stay as an act of loyalty, an unwillingness to abandon him even in this surreal situation. But if she was being truly honest with herself, she had to admit that maybe Mulder actually deserved this.

"Thank you," Skinner said before glancing back at he dark head still turned towards his partner. "Let's get on with this Agent Mulder, are you ready?"

Mulder returned his gaze forward and said nothing, clenching his jaw shut.\

Skinner shook his head at the younger man's stubbornness before raising his hand high and bring it down across the seat of Mulder's slacks.

The agent grunted as that slap reignited all the previous ones the short respite had started to dull, but refused to say anything or try to struggle. He was not going to participate in this. He was not going to give them the satisfaction of seeing him squirm and reveal how much this was affecting him. He would just lay there quietly until Skinner had had his fun, then when he was released he was going to punch Skinner in the face so hard the _Cancer Man_ would feel it. 

Skinner noted Mulder's change in tactic immediately, feeling his body tense against him but not actually fighting him anymore. That was fine. Skinner knew Mulder was trying to distance himself from this, act like it was happening to someone else, proving to Skinner that this wasn't affecting him. But the older man knew that wasn't going to last for long. 

Again and again his hand made contact with Mulder's firm backside and Skinner developed a sort of rhythm, delivering the swats at a steady pace that would build the heat up quickly and hopefully break through Mulder's stubbornness faster.

Scully couldn't tear her eye's away from Skinner's hand as it smacked Mulder's backside over and over. He must have been spanking her partner with some force and she couldn't help wincing whenever he targeted the sensitive undercurve of his behind. The sound the slaps were making were uncomfortably loud in her ears and she prayed no one could hear it outside the door. Mulder wasn't making a sound and she forced herself to look at his face. It was turned slightly away from her and down but she could see that he had his eyes closed and was clenching his jaw, trying to control any reaction to the spanking. She could see his tie brushing slightly against the floor with the force of each smack, like a visual metronome keeping time with Skinner's swats. 

Mulder concentrated on his breathing as he tried to block out the pain. It was becoming increasingly harder to do and he was beginning to worry that he wouldn't outlast Skinner like he had hoped. He lasted a whole thirty seconds longer before a particularly hard swat on the crease where buttock met thigh forced an involuntary verbal response from him.

"Jesus," he hissed as Skinner struck him in the same spot.

"Glad to know you're still with us Agent," Skinner said as he continued to concentrate on that area that had finally produced a response.

"Fuck you, you bald bas…ow, ow, OW!" Mulder cried out as Skinner began slapping the back of his thighs.

"I warned you agent," Skinner reminded him as he continued to smack his thighs.

Mulder couldn't comprehend why being smacked on the back of the thighs seemed so much more painful then the buttocks but at the moment he didn't care and only wished for the larger man to stop. It was just too much and Mulder finally broke his vow of stoicness, bringing his hand up and behind him to try and shield himself from further punishment.

"You've got to stop this," he pleaded as he felt Skinner loosen his grip around his waist so he could grab onto Mulder's wrist, wrapping it firmly in his warm hand and forcing it down.

Skinner kept a hold of Mulder's wrist as he leaned further over his back to keep him pinned over his knees. 

"I'll stop when I feel you've learned your lesson Agent," Skinner scolded him as Mulder struggled in his grip.

"I have alright? Please sir, just stop," Mulder begged and Skinner was pleased to hear the change in tone in the young man's voice. Mulder had actually called him 'sir' this time and he had respectfully 'requested' that Skinner stop instead of demanding he do so.

'Finally,' Skinner thought silently to himself as he landed two last mighty smacks to the hot backside before him, causing Mulder to jerk in his grip and hiss in pain.

Both men sat still for a moment, trying to catch their breaths.

Mulder hung his head and lifted his free hand over his eyes, rubbing out the tension he could feel growing between them, his weight completely supported by the other man as he still had Mulder's right wrist trapped in his own.

"I hope you know why you' re in this position Agent Mulder," Skinner said as he released the captured wrist and allowed Mulder to place it down on the floor again.

"Yeah I know," the miserable man mumbled as he braced himself again on both hands, staring at the floor.

Skinner let him mull over everything while he tried to slow his own breathing. He glanced at Scully who sat quietly in her chair, staring at the floor. He looked down at the bowed head hanging over his left knee. 

"I think you should apologize to your partner Agent Mulder," Skinner said quietly and both Mulder and Scully's heads lifted at the announcement.

"What?" Mulder asked in an aggrieved tone as he twisted his head to look over his shoulder, surprised that Skinner was adding to his humiliation by asking him to beg his partner's forgiveness.

Several sharp smacks to his already sore behind quickly had him capitulating.

" _Ow_! Alright, alright! I'm sorry okay?" Mulder cried out as he jerked under the onslaught.

"You can do better then that," Skinner chided as he placed his hand once more against Mulder's backside, pressing even more firmly to encourage the younger man to come up with a more sincere apology.

"Okay, Okay," Mulder said quietly to himself as he reluctantly turned his head to face his partner. Their eyes met and Mulder could see his own embarrassment reflected in her own. He suddenly felt terrible that she was made to sit through this. 

"I'm sorry Scully, I really am," he said quietly.

Scully smiled at him sadly.

"I know," she said simply and both knew that it was going to be okay. He didn't hate her for not intervening and she didn't hate him for lying to her and putting her in such an awkward position.

Skinner glanced back and forth between the two of them, satisfied that they had made amends and that they would be able to work through this. His own relationship with Mulder had taken a turn and he knew it was going to take a little more than an apology to make things right between them but like he had told Scully earlier, he felt that Mulder was worth it.

"I guess that's it then," he said as he leaned forward to grab onto Mulder's bicep to help him off his lap.

"Actually sir," Scully began and both men froze and looked at her in surprise.

"Scully?" Mulder asked worriedly, still draped over Skinner's lap.

"Yes Scully?" Skinner questioned as he released his supporting hand on Mulder's arm and leaned back, placing a hand in the small of the younger man's back to keep him in place.

"There was another issue I was hoping to address with agent Mulder but given the recent circumstances, I believe you would be better suited to handle it sir," she said as she made eye contact with her partner.

"And what issue would that be?" Skinner asked as he looked at her in bewilderment.

"The fact that Agent Mulder went on an unauthorized exploratory mission into the forest last night, the very same forest where several people had been torn to pieces by an unknown animal, on his own, without informing anyone of his intentions, and aggravating his current injures in the process," she listed as her gaze hardened with the anger and worry she had felt over the realization that Mulder had gone behind her back and had trekked off into the woods after promising her he wouldn't. 

Mulder could see all that in her eyes and he closed his own as he hung his head in defeat.

"He did _what_..!?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I continue this? I do have another idea for one more chapter but I don't know....


	7. Chapter 7

Mulder mentally cursed a blue streak in his head. How could he have been so stupid? Of course Scully would have figured it out. She was a damn good investigator and whether fortunately or unfortunately, she knew him all to well. The seeds of an idea as to his extracurricular nighttime excursion had probably been planted when she had been in his motel room. He had put away his hiking gear when he had got back that night but had forgotten about his boots, left exactly where he had toed them off in his post adrenaline exhaustion. Stupid, stupid, _stupid…_

He felt Skinner shift over him, a large hand once more gripping the back of his leather belt. 

"Is this true Agent?" he heard Skinner ask, his tone indicating that for Mulder's sake it had better damn well not be.

Mulder kept his mouth shut, unwilling to incriminate himself by affirming Scully's accusation and tried to push himself up off Skinner's lap with his right hand on the other man's knee, thinking it was probably best if they had this conversation in a more vertical position.

"Oh no you don't," Skinner growled as he used his grip on the agent's belt to pull the other man back further over his lap, causing Mulder to slide forward and once more forcing him to place his hands flat against the floor to support himself.

" _Damnit_!" Mulder hissed in frustration as his feet once more lost traction with the floor with the force of Skinner's pull. It took a second of uncertain flailing before the toes of his shoes made contact once again. Mulder found himself looking down at the linoleum floor once more and the unfairness of it caused him to raise his right hand up and slap it down hard on the floor, producing a satisfyingly loud noise.

"You said that we were done!" Mulder threw angrily over his shoulder as he felt Skinner wrap his left arm around his middle to keep him pinned down in position. He twisted against the tight hold but Skinner's grip was firm, a constant inescapable pressure anchoring him in place.

"I'm getting a little tired of this agent and I'm sure you are as well so I suggest you cut the crap and tell me if what Agent Scully says is true," Skinner ordered impatiently. While he was sure Mulder would argue the fact, Skinner wasn't particularly enjoying spanking one of his subordinates and he was just as ready as the younger man for this to be over, even if the act of finally giving Mulder what he deserved was somewhat cathartic for the constantly stressed boss.

Mulder stubbornly refused to answer, instead redoubling his efforts to stand up. 

"Fine, have it your way," Skinner said before slapping his hand down hard dead center on Mulder's behind, causing the younger man to jerk forward over his lap and cry out in surprise.

"Fuck!" Mulder cried out as the pain was reignited in his already sore backside. Skinner must have meant what he said because he wasn't holding back this time. When a second smack landed Mulder immediately twisted to raise his right hand up and behind him to try and shield himself from further punishment.

"Okay! Okay!" Mulder called out as Skinner lowered his own right hand and wrapped it gently but firmly around the younger man's wrist. He didn't try to move Mulder's blocking hand away and allowed the young agent the allusion of protection since he was showing signs of cooperating.

Well?" Skinner prompted as Mulder laid over his knees, one hand protecting his rear. 

Mulder simply breathed for a moment as he rode out the initial sting of the two swats before sighing in resignation. Since he was already slightly twisted over the older man's lap in order to cover his backside, he cast a quick look up at Skinner's face.

"Can we please discuss this with me standing?" he asked hopefully, trying to maneuver an errant lock of hair out of his eye with a flick of his head.

"No," was all Skinner said as he used his light grip on Mulder's right wrist to pull his protecting hand away and down, indicating he wanted the younger man to place it back on the floor. He felt a moment of resistance as the younger man fought to maneuver it back in place but after a quick warning squeeze, he felt the younger man reluctantly capitulate and Skinner released his hold so Mulder could bring his hand forward and down to the floor.

Realizing that Skinner was not going to let him up and would probably smack him until he confessed, Mulder went limp over the larger man's knees in defeat. He could complain and fight all he wanted but Skinner was in control here now and nothing Mulder could say or do would change that unfortunate fact.

He cast a quick look towards where Scully still sat and was embarrassed to see her staring right at him, arms crossed and sympathetic look gone now that they were addressing the issue that had been bothering her since she realized what he had done behind her back.

He quickly looked down again and his eyes focused on a small scuff mark in the flooring between his hands. He shifted slightly and rubbed at the scuff with a finger as he tried to come up with a way to phrase his story so it wouldn't sound as bad as he feared it would to his two colleagues. He heard Skinner sigh in frustration.

"One…," Skinner said sternly. 

Mulder quickly abandoned the scuff mark on the floor and his head shot up in surprise. Was Skinner actually counting?

"Two…,"

Fuck! He _was_ counting! Armed with the knowledge every child learns very quickly that you do _NOT_ want the counter to get to three, Mulder quickly interrupted.

"Alright, yes I went out to one of the crime scenes last night. I was trying to see if I could find evidence of what was killing those people," Mulder explained as he returned his gaze to the scuff mark between his hands, unwilling to see the look of disappointment that he was positive his partner would be displaying.

"Oh Mulder," he heard her sigh. A second later he heard her stand up from the chair and he turned to look up at her, confused.

"How did you reinjure your ankle?" she asked sternly as she stood there staring down at him. It was slightly jarring to have her looking down on him when it was usually the other way around due to the extreme differences in their heights, and with such disappointment, that Mulder found it uncomfortable enough to look away.

"I landed hard when I jumped over a log," he supplied sullenly. 

Skinner looked from Scully to the back of Mulder's bowed head. The limp the other man had been hiding hadn't gone unnoticed by the other man, especially when Mulder had stumbled when Skinner had pushed him down the hallway, but he had simply thought the previous injury was bothering the younger agent, not that he had gone and aggravated it by running around the woods in the dark. Before he could say anything in response, he looked back to Scully closing the short distance between them. 

"Sir, if it's alright with you, I'd like to examine his ankle," she said as she positioned herself towards his right side where Mulder's legs draped off his lap.

Questioning the timing but understanding Scully's need to reassure herself regarding her partner's health, Skinner decided to allow the interruption. He owed her at least that much after having her witness her partner get his butt walloped.

"Of course Scully, do you want me to…?" he began as he indicated Mulder with a nod of his head, silently asking if she wanted him to pull Mulder up so she could sit him down and prop up his ankle for a proper examination. 

"No need sir, thank you," she replied as she knelt down on the floor by Mulder's feet.

Knowing that Mulder couldn't see her position and also knowing the younger man was probably feeling nervous and vulnerable at the moment, he placed his right hand on Mulder's right buttock, feeling the younger man flinch in response, and firmly ran it down the taught muscle and down the back of his thigh, allowing Mulder to feel his leg being touched and to hopefully not be startled and kick accidentally when Scully grabbed his ankle. He stopped his hand just above the back of Mulder's knee and pressed down as an added precaution. 

He watched as Scully gently reached for her partner's right foot and he pressed harder against Mulder's thigh as he felt the younger man tense at the touch. Fortunately Mulder was able to control himself and laid still over skinner's lap as Scully felt up his injured ankle.

Scully grabbed Mulder's ankle as gently as she could, pushing the hem of his slacks out of the way so she could wrap her small hand around his thin sock. She felt him stiffen at the touch but she believed it was more from surprise then pain since he had been able to walk on it. She carefully ran her hand up and down and around, feeling the slight swelling around the joint. She pressed two fingers into the tendon that ran vertically down the left side, then the right, feeling Mulder give a slight jerk of pain. She saw out of the corner of her eye Skinner give Mulder's thigh a couple of pats before pressing down on it again. Whether it was for encouragement or a warning was unclear to her but she assumed it was probably both. 

Mulder laid as still as he could as he felt Scully manipulate his ankle. It really didn't hurt as much as before, not like when he had first injured it, but that could also have been because he was currently being overwhelmed by a multitude of sensations at the moment. First and foremost was the constant stinging in his rear, a sort of painful tingling that would not dissipate. Then the odd sensation of Skinner's hard thighs under his lower chest and stomach, the awkward position causing the younger man to be hyper aware of every breath he took as his diaphragm worked harder to push against those same hard thighs. He was even aware of the change in temperature of the cool linoleum under his flattened palms, warming up only to become cool once again whenever he shifted his hands. Skinner's warm hand was heavy against his leg. Mulder hated all of it.

Scully pulled Mulder's sock down to expose the slight bruising on his skin. Fortunately it was the fading bruises from the original injury, indicating he hadn't really done any serious damage to the healing joint. Satisfied with her examination, she pulled his sock back into place and smoothed down his pant leg before standing up. 

"While there is a little swelling and I'm sure it's a bit tender, I don't think he has done any damage to it," she explained to Skinner as she smoothed her suit skirt down.

"Well _that's_ good news at least," Skinner added as Scully headed back to her chair and sat down. He felt Mulder forcefully exhale in a scoff, and he glared down at the dark haired man.

"Something you wanted to say?" Skinner questioned sternly and Mulder scoffed again.

"There are a _million_ things I liked to say right now but none of them you'd like to hear," Mulder sassed and immediately regretted as the older man slammed his palm down across his rear in a rapid fire delivery of swats that had Mulder's toes twitching over the floor and his hazel green eyes scrunching closed at the pain.

"OW! Ow! Okay! I'm sorry!" he quickly called out as he once again twisted his right hand up behind him to stall any further retaliatory swats.

"I thought you might be," Skinner remarked just a tad bit smugly as he released his left arm from around Mulder's waist in order to grab the hand the younger man was trying to shield himself with and pin it down firmly on Mulder's lower back, restraining it there and preventing the younger man from using it to interfere again.

Mulder breathed heavily as he tugged against Skinner's hold, hoping the larger man would let it go like the last time so Mulder could place it back on the floor but no such luck. Skinner's grip remained firm.

He tensed as he felt the older man's large palm come to rest against his left buttock, pressing firmly, trapping heat as he applied that incessant, uncomfortable pressure that had Mulder wishing he could somehow squirm enough forward to alleviate it. No matter how much he was able to shift away from Skinner's hand, pinned down as he was, the pressure just followed.

"I want the details and I want them _now_ ," Skinner ordered as he felt Mulder shift with discomfort over his lap.

"Alright fine, but try to hold off beating my ass until the end," Mulder said miserably, knowing that his painful humiliation wasn't quite over yet. He just _knew_ Skinner was going to have _something_ to say about his little field trip into the woods.

"No promises…," Skinner replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess I'll just keep going until I stop. Story not finished, still have more to write but don't expect swift updates. It's me we're talking about after all. Hope you enjoyed it!


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